Hey guys! First time back in a long while and thought I would put up something a bit different to my usual posts. ALSCO reached out to me earlier (quite some time actually, sorry to kept them waiting) with some (a lot, actually) restaurant business plan tips. Although I don't have a restaurant, it was still an interesting read and I decided to choose 10 tips out of their 126 to share - these 10 ideas are what I consider to be important in this current situation where so much of where to eat and what to eat is determined by whether it is #instaworthy.

1. Location, location, location
Location is one of the first things I look at when determining if I will go to a restaurant, regardless of how attractive the menu/dish looks. Inconvenient locations prevent people from trying out potentially really good places. For me, I have a whole folder of screenshots of places that I want to go to, but don't think I'll ever go to due to it being such a trek to get there.
Remember: convenience is everything!

For example, Waterman's Lobster was quite a trek for me, so I only went when I could find some other reason to be in the area. Side note: it was worth the trek!

2. Décor and design
I know that décor and design is something that a lot of people pay attention to when deciding whether to return. But for me, as long as the restaurant is clean and the food is good, I would revisit. Pretty surroundings is an added bonus!
But looking back, the décor and the design of the place really affects whether I take a photo and whether I will upload it on to social media or not. This is just as important as good lighting as it takes a lot of effort to adjust the photos afterwards. For amateur foodies like me, it just prevents me from posting on social media/making a blog post on the restaurant. As such, they lose a portion of such free advertising/promotion that they would otherwise receive.
For example, the setup at the Grounds of Alexandria really added to it's attractiveness to both first-timers and return patrons.

3. Menu
Now that you're seated, time to read the menu! Most cafes and restaurants now have relatively simple menus (around 1-2 pages max of food items). Too many items causes confusion (especially for people like me who can't choose what to eat) and too little items doesn't cater to enough customers.
Also, steer away from complicated words, please! I know it sounds fancy and all, but it mostly just confuses me and adds to the time I need to decide what I'm going to be ordering.
Keep things simple.

4. Tableware
Your food is here, what do you do? Take a photo first! (#cameraeatfirst) For your food to be #instaworthy, the food must be plated beautifully. With more and more people using instagram and other social media, restaurants have to capture the attention of customers in that one picture.
Some restaurants can be really good at plating (e.g. Koi), but for most restaurants, a clean and simple display is more than sufficient in becoming #instaworthy
Hint: marble is all the craze so you can't really go wrong with marble plates

5. Bloggers, Influencers & Social Media
This is one of the most active place where restaurants can gain exposure and attract customers nowadays. Whether its's through working with influencers through sponsored posts or the restaurant setting up their own social media account, I would say that most restaurants have something to gain by establishing their online presence.
But remember, setting up an account is easy, maintaining it is the hard part - you should aim to be responsive on the pages you set up, whether it's Facebook or instagram.

There are many more great points the article mentions, which I recommend you read if you're run a restaurant or are looking to set up the restaurant of your dreams!
Right now, ALSCO is also offering 10 extra tips when you request for the PDF version of the tips!
Check out these tips and strategies for your restaurant business plan now!

On a side note, I should be back soon with a travel post! Keep your eyes out for the new blogpost!

Taking a break from my readings and started clearing through some of my bookmarks and I just realised that there are bunch of sites and blogs that I used to visit religiously. But all of sudden, the last time I visited was August last year...I don't even know what happened. I just stopped clicking in.
Out of curiosity, I clicked through to a friend's blog and saw that they still update practically everyday #schedulinggoals which gave me motivation to actually bring back some sort schedule into my postings. I don't think I'll ever get to her level of posting every night - she's the god of staying on top of everything😂

Enough of the mini-rant - time to get to business and take a #throwback to November last year!
It was the end of the year at uni and to celebrate the end of exams, P, JB & I trekked out to Strathfield after seeing a bunch of people visit a Korean dumpling place called The Mandoo. However, the Mandoo is for another day (memories of expensive dumplings...). After dumplings, we decided to hop onto a train to Lidcombe for dessert!

Although Strathfield is like Koreatown #2 (after Eastwood), there aren't that many shaved ice places (we discovered this on one of the late night dessert runs). Lidcombe is a pretty decent Koreatown - I actually think it offers better Korean food than Strathfield. My IG at the time was being flooded with pictures of a super fluffy looking bowl of bingsoo.

After walking around the wrong side of the station and completely walking past the cafe itself, we found it! Totally not obvious as there isn't much signage referring to their heavenly bingsoo.

Look at the bingsoo in all it's glory! Snow-like shaved ice doused in condensed milk and bean powder. Sprinkles of almond flakes and mochi cubes plus a blob of red bean! The shaved ice comes with a small pot of condensed milk for your to pour over (cue those 'hand-pour' instagram shots)

This bingsoo is like no other - it melts in your mouth without it feeling like you're sucking on an ice-cube.

Definitely worth a try! Photo-wise I think this one looks most like the one you have in Korea!

With the photo-editing software on flickr in repair, I'm making the most of my ipad and doing all my photo edits there and it appears to make me more on top of posting for my blog (or I hope so)

Here's a recollection of a small selection of cakes that I've tried from Zumbo - I've only made purchases from their stores at the QVB and the Star. Some of these cakes were devoured a long time ago...so my memory is slightly rusty

Dr Apple and Nurse Pear

This one caught my eye as it stood tall with all its lopsided rings. The cake itself was smooth with occasional bites of apple and pear - slightly tart. The white chocolate rings just weren't for me - gladly let the rest of family share them as I devoured the cake itself.

Lemon Meringue

Lemon Meringue is amongst one of the first dessert I will get every time I visit a new place! Sorry for the bad photo - the cake box suffered a bit of a battering on my way back and things slid around quite a bit.

Aesthetics aside, the lemon tart was amazing - super sour, which is my favourite! Disappointment did come from the meringue though...it was kind of runny (especially towards the centre), and I had to pick it off the tart in the end sadly. I think it could also have been torched a bit more to give it less of that mushy texture.

Hazelnut Forest

This turned out to my favourite of them all! Tasted like a Ferrero Rocher x Kinder Bueno - which is AMAZING!!! The cake was smooth and creamy but also had a bite to it from the hazelnut crunch inside.

V8 Salted Caramel

This is probably the one with the most hype attached to it, but it was the one that I least anticipated. To be honest, I only got it as it was the iconic "Zumbo" cake. For me, the cake was overpoweringly sweet and in some parts, bitter (I think the caramel was slightly burnt). Rest of the family liked it, but I don't think I will give it a second try. They also have a white chocolate one I think...but not a fan either.

Choc-a-bloc

Not to much I remember from this cake other than the fact it would be quite interesting to eat it as a massive lollipop. I remember that it was a good chocolate cake, but nothing too special.

Witch, please

I only got this one for the looks - I really wasn't anticipating that would taste amazing and there were no surprises there. Pumpkin spice isn't a bad flavour, but I'm not a big fan. Also, the decorations on the cake wasn't good either - was looking forward to a crunchy cone, but it was soft as fondant...

TBH, it looked a lot better on Zumbo's Facebook...but that's expected

Yuzu Say Cheese!

This was my second favourite - it looked so cute and was super tasty! I would have like a stronger yuzu taste, but the cake as a whole was very palatable. Thumbs up!

Gringos Tart

I was deciding between this and the passionfruit tart, but chose this one in the end because of the churros bit sticking on top (serious cravings from churros right now). I'm not normally a fan of chocolate x orange, but this one balanced out really well. The flavour wasn't overpowering and tasted more like a gingerbread man in tart form.

Overall, Zumbo is worth the try I think, especially because he releases quite a few limited edition and new items every now and again!

This blog really has well and truly been abandoned...but here's an attempt to bring it back...with a post from 2015! Yes, I did go to Japan twice in a year, but there was nearly a year in between so don't judge.

This was my first international trip with no parents attached, so we were both super keen. But considering we're both not that lucky, we were first hit by a changed itinerary a while before our departure date. But that was no biggie, we adjusted our plans and soldiered on.

When we got to Cairns, we were hit by delay after delay with no hint as to whether there was even a plane for us to board. Seeing the later flight to Osaka take off gave me slight regrets for booking to Narita instead. But both Peo and I were set on that as long as we left on the day, we wouldn't complain regardless.

But we totally jinxed it - the next announcement we heard was that we had to head back and collect our luggage, meaning that there was no hope of us flying that day. After collecting our luggage, we had to go get informed of what hotel we would all be staying at as well as collecting the meal vouchers for the day.

And this was the queue we faced...from memory there were only 2-3 counters open. That's how sad Cairns airport is. It is from this incident that I have sworn that I will not be flying anywhere if I have to transit through Cairns!

As we lined up, we heard a whole range of different hotels that other passengers were being sent to, so we were freaking out if we would be sent to a dingy little motel since there wasn't much in Cairns anyway.

Every time our bus stopped we would have a little freak out if the place looked the slightest bit dodgy.

But here's when things took a good turn: DoubleTree

The second before we saw the sign, we drove past a line of dingy motels and hostels which seriously scared me and to make it worst there was a bunch of roadworks happening which felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. But this sign was seriously reassuring.

Since it was still early, we did a bit of exploring in the hotel and nearby.

The hotel buildings circle around this middle water feature/pond/tropical rainforest thing which houses some massive fish. Didn't manage to grab a picture of it.

The buildings were all circular and they all looked the same, so I think it is quite easy to get lost in.

Having explored enough of the hotel and we were unprepared to use the the other facilities of the gym, we headed out. The hotel was near the beach and there was a shopping centre near by, but one thing I forgot was that Cairns is super humid and we were dressed for Japan weather...GG

The boardwalk is nice, but I still think Sydney has better beaches #sydneypride. What was surprising was that all the trees along the side were mango trees and a lot of the mangos had actually fallen off and rotted....

What's also hidden in these tress are BATS! Like heaps and heaps of bats...we didn't notice at first, but once you see them...cannot unsee

Like look at them...waiting to poop on you any moment...We unnecessarily crossed many roads to avoid the bat-infested trees on the way to the shopping centre. The shopping centre was nothing special, so no photos there. Since Jetstar already had meal vouchers for us, there was no need for us to go through the Coles for food, and I wasn't exactly looking to buy anything before I got to Japan.

Our dinner for the night! Had to make full use of the vouchers right?! Food was alright - the burger was good, nasi goreng super salty and the dessert was a bomb!

I just realised that hotels never seem to have enough lighting...like what is with all these shadows???

I'm never really up for breakfast as I can never wake up in time (I'm rarely up by 10am on days with no work and uni). But, Sokyo breakfast drew me up from bed.

Peo & I crawled out there, squished on the on-peak train and light rail to make it in there before breakfast finished at 10:30am.

We got slightly lost in trying to find the restaurant, as it's not exactly inside the main building. But we eventually found it and were greeted with the exciting sight of no queue.

Once we got settled in, we were offered three main choices:

A-la-carte dish + coffee/tea ($22.50)

Full continental buffet + coffee/tea ($28)

A-la-carte dish + continental buffet + coffee/tea ($38)

We obviously went all out for the a-la-carte and buffet. For our a-la-carte dishes we wanted something unique and Japanese-style.

We first opted for the Katsu-sando, which was all over Instagram for the previous few months prior to our visit, so it was a must-order. The pork was juicy and the sauces were excellent. The salad was also a nice touch to cut through the fattiness from the pork loin.

Sadly, I don't think it's on the menu anymore. But in it's place there is Pork Katsu Curry which looks equally as attractive!

You must have to order a dish that the restaurant is willing to put it's name to it so we also got the Sokyo Seafood Bowl, which resembles a chiraishi. The fresh seafood flavours play with each other very well and runny egg really connects everything together. I've never had octopus like this before so that was nice. I know chiraishi is commonly had at room temperature, but I personally prefer the warmer bibimbap; especially when it's breakfast and something warm starts the engine running.

Our a-la-carte dishes along with some of the food from the Continental Buffet. I recall there being a large selection of cheese and sliced meat, but I wasn't really interested in that. We did take interest in the assorted ranges of muffins, cruffins and baked goods offered - especially the green tea and the yuzu muffins. Whilst the muffins were great, they were extremely filling and it would be a bit hard to demolish off multiple muffins alongside the main dish. Other dishes offered didn't leave much of a special imprint.

One dish that I didn't get was the congee -- I saw heaps of people going back for second and third bowls of the congee so it must've been good.

From what I saw, maybe because we were late to the trend, there weren't that many customers that travelled there especially for breakfast. The majority of guests were staying at the hotel above Sokyo.

Personally I believe you should go just for the main dish, and combined with constant menu rotations, it should keep you coming back for breakfast. I looked up the current menu and in addition to the Pork Katsu Curry, the Mushroom Omurice and the Matcha Green Tea Lamington also look attractive.